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[Tunavi]

The armor lock video got me thinking: We should get a party some time and hit up matchmaking with the same armor ability like hologram, drop shield, or camo, and all use it together at once and see how the game plays out
or armor lock...

 

[Slightly Live]

Was listening to the Seatbelts Radio on last.fm (swing, jazz, instrumental, orchestral) and Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori – Ghosts and Glass came up

Didn't think the two would ever mix, but it sounds like a classy playlist.

 

[Hitmonchan107]

The magic is to keep fans on their toes. Unfortunately we are right in between Halo announcements, or as I think to think of them, the dark times.

Right now we have no official confirmation on anything and this is when rumours are most rife. Even if a video was leaked detailing a full level of a new title, they'd still keep radio silence.

How long until E3? =)

I really hope 343i take Bungie approach of teasing the fans along during rough patches. During the old days, a few cryptic hints and maybe a mysterious codename would power the hype train forward for months. We haven't a good ole' tease since Reach's launch. Even the DLC was just suddenly shown without much or even any cryptic pre-reveal hinting.

Don't remind me.

I'm still going to apply for a media badge, but I used my hotel/travel money for the event to fix my car a few weeks ago. The brakes gave out on me. It cost me almost $500 to fix.

Each year, it breaks down right before summer.

Last year: $800 (intake gasket); $150 (four busted tires in a month, one of which was irreparably damaged by a nail).

2009: $500 (busted pipes that rusted other pipes).

 

[Deputy Moonman]

Continuing my terrific negative k/d ratio run in Reach. Power weapons are raining from the sky. Sword is on sale in every map. Act now and we'll give you 3 more for free! Rockets? Sniper rifles? YES! Grab bags being given away left and right. Hop into Reach for some fantastic pwnage! Bleah...

Does anyone know why, when you melee block someone lunging at you with the sword, your shield goes down but the sword carriers does not? There is absolutely no point in being able to block that shit. I can block it once, even twice sometimes, but what do I gain from it other than an eventual death.

 

[Louis Wu]

Don't remind me.

I'm still going to apply for a media badge, but I used my hotel/travel money for the event to fix my car a few weeks ago. The brakes gave out on me. It cost me almost $500 to fix.

Each year, it breaks down right before summer.

Last year: $800 (intake gasket); $150 (four busted tires in a month, one of which was irreparably damaged by a nail).

2009: $500 (busted pipes that rusted other pipes).

You should edit your 'new page' explanation to 'double post' for those of us with 100 post pages.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

Continuing my terrific negative k/d ratio run in Reach. Power weapons are raining from the sky. Sword is on sale in every map. Act now and we'll give you 3 more for free! Rockets? Sniper rifles? YES! Grab bags being given away left and right. Hop into Reach for some fantastic pwnage! Bleah...

Does anyone know why, when you melee block someone lunging at you with the sword, your shield goes down but the sword carriers does not? There is absolutely no point in being able to block that shit. I can block it once, even twice sometimes, but what do I gain from it other than an eventual death.

It gives you a bit more time to put shots on them, for example you could popped someones shields as they sprint at you, sword blocked them and then headshot them. I dont see it happen often though.

 

[Trasher]

The maps in classic are no where near perfect, ugh. Forge sucks and I hope it doesn't return in the next Halo.

Community BTB is the biggest laughing stock I believe I've ever taken part of in a videogame. Hey here's a Falcon, but let's put death barriers 10 feet into the air, lol.

Best night of Halo ever amirite?

 

[Deputy Moonman]

It gives you a bit more time to put shots on them, for example you could popped someones shields as they sprint at you, sword blocked them and then headshot them. I dont see it happen often though.

Yeah, it's rough. I just didn't know if I was doing something wrong.

 

[see5harp]

The armor lock video got me thinking: We should get a party some time and hit up matchmaking with the same armor ability like hologram, drop shield, or camo, and all use it together at once and see how the game plays out
or armor lock...

That would be particularly funny in bro slayer. It could be an everlasting string of armor locks or holograms.

 

[equil]

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/FileDetails.aspx?fid=16211595&player=Annihilator

My most amazing goal in hockey so far.

 

[vhfive]

Community BTB is the biggest laughing stock I believe I've ever taken part of in a videogame. Hey here's a Falcon, but let's put death barriers 10 feet into the air, lol.

Renegade has a red spawn that as soon as you spawn you die and it says you fell to your death. lolz

Spoiler

According to Bnet that's not the newest version of the map and Bungle put the wrong map in

 

[Slightly Live]

Best night of Halo ever amirite?

I liked it when they quit. So rare to see anyone ever quit.

 

[Hitmonchan107]

You should edit your 'new page' explanation to 'double post' for those of us with 100 post pages.

Done. :^)

 

[kylej]

Renegade has a red spawn that as soon as you spawn you die and it says you fell to your death. lolz

Spoiler

According to Bnet that's not the newest version of the map and Bungle put the wrong map in

Bungie doesn't just test its own games this way. It also buys copies of rival titles and studies those, too, to see how Halo matches up. "I've never seen anything like it," says Ian Bogost, a professor of digital media at Georgia Tech, who toured the testing lab in the fall. "The system they've got is insane."

It might seem like an awfully clinical approach to creating an epic space-war adventure. But Bungie's designers aren't just making a game: They're trying to divine the golden mean of fun. They need to create an experience that is challenging enough to thrill the 15 million existing hardcore fans of Halo — yet appealing enough to lure in millions of new players.

So Bungie's designers sift through Pagulayan's reports, peer through the one-way mirror, and scrutinize every second of the game. Videogame development involves artistry, obviously. But at Bungie Studios, it's become something of a science as well.

 

[Trasher]

I liked it when they quit. So rare to see anyone ever quit.

Yeah usually most people stick with it for those amazing jackpots.


















HA! Such a terrible incentive... The next Halo multiplayer game needs something that will keep players in the game because obviously the playlists/gametypes aren't good enough. It is so rare to finish a game with no players quitting. I think that just goes to show how awful the game is when you aren't playing with a team.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Wait please explain that. Why are the these different prices and names?

depending on the number of surveys you do you get a rank on expertzone and stuff becomes cheaper. I can get H2V for like $7.90

 

[Tunavi]

Why doesn't bungie just let players be put into games in progress after people have quit?

 

[def sim]

They should bring back clan match so that every game is team vs team rather than a bunch of randoms mashed together. Also, I miss seeing clan names and making fun of them pre-game.

 

[vhfive]

I liked it when they quit. So rare to see anyone ever quit.

I know right. People NEVER quit in Halo
My first game in Community BTB

 

[Tashi]

Yeah usually most people stick with it for those amazing jackpots.


















HA! Such a terrible incentive... The next Halo multiplayer game needs something that will keep players in the game because obviously the playlists/gametypes aren't good enough. It is so rare to finish a game with no players quitting. I think that just goes to show how awful the game is when you aren't playing with a team.

I think the removal of ranks did more harm than we imagined. I've been quitting out of matches like crazy lately.

 

[A27_StarWolf]

hey guys so is community BTB any good?

 

[ncsuDuncan]

I think the removal of ranks did more harm than we imagined. I've been quitting out of matches like crazy lately.

If you're not Part of the Solution...

Spoiler

(images of shotgun shells and hippos flashing through my head)

 

[Havok]

hey guys so is community BTB any good?

I played exactly one game, where the enemy team spawned by a sniper, Banshee, and Warthog, and we spawned by...nothing of worth, while they mancannoned into our spawn zone so I spawned multiple times beside a sword guy.

Never again.

 

[vhfive]

hey guys so is community BTB any good?

I only played 2 games but in the first game a total of 8 people quit. In the second game 6 people quit out and there was a broken spawn that killed you as you spawned (see my post above) which happened to me 3 times during the game.

 

[Hey You]

Why doesn't bungie just let players be put into games in progress after people have quit?

Because they don't want the population of Matchmaking to go down?

Seriously, I would probably sell my copy of Reach if that happened. I want to play my own game. One where I have the chance to change the outcome. Not a game where its 45-12 Slayer game for the other team.

 

[Trasher]

I think the removal of ranks did more harm than we imagined. I've been quitting out of matches like crazy lately.

I really believe it isn't due to the change in the rank system though. Maybe a little bit yeah, but I think it's just the different style of gameplay in Reach. I've been known to call it the Haggard Effect. Reach is simply harder on the player. When you lose, you lose hard. Even when you win a closer match like 50-35, the winning team still doesn't feel that satisfaction like they normally would in previous Halo titles. And, as rare as it is (for us anyways), when you actually get that competitive game with some good players, and you eek out that win 50-47, you still feel like your team played awful. I don't know how Reach does it, but it really takes out that satisfaction for me that I used to get whenever I played the other games.

It might be different for you in the MLG playlist, but this is how it generally goes for us in the other ones. We play around 10 to sometimes 15 matches a night, and I'd say we generally get one match a night (if lucky) that is actually competitive. The other half of the matches are filled with quitters, and then I'd say the remaining are filled with guests and people who probably would have made things easier on themselves if they would have quit.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

They seriously need someone who could release playlists that have been tested and play well.

 

[wwm0nkey]

I think the removal of ranks did more harm than we imagined. I've been quitting out of matches like crazy lately.

They dropped the ball on both Ranks and Arena, both systems just failed.

 

[GhaleonEB]

I think the removal of ranks did more harm than we imagined. I've been quitting out of matches like crazy lately.

I agree, in part. I think the combination of no visible ranking for performance - not completion - as well as poor carrot and stick mechanism for game completion and participation, did a lot of damage. I still think the cR system should be tilted toward "performance bonus" and not "game completion". And then impose a steep cR penalty for quitting.

I didn't think so prior to release, but a visible TrueSkill (1-50 or whatever) is also needed. Players want and need a way to see performance based feedback, not just credits for completing various tasks.

 

[bobs...onGaf]

I agree, in part. I think the combination of no visible ranking for performance - not completion - as well as poor carrot and stick mechanism for game completion and participation, did a lot of damage. I still think the cR system should be tilted toward "performance bonus" and not "game completion". And then impose a steep cR penalty for quitting.

I didn't think so prior to release, but a visible TrueSkill (1-50 or whatever) is also needed. Players want and need a way to see performance based feedback, not just credits for completing various tasks.

Credits for game participation would be enough to stop afkers. You never see people afking in CoD simply because it isnt a viable way to rank up in that game. I still dont understand why they chose to reward game completion over participation, which would have been a lot more satisfying.

 

[Striker]

They dropped the ball on both Ranks and Arena, both systems just failed.

Arena is currently a decent embodied playlist, though. With how Jeremiah is headstrong on bringing in another Slayer playlist, I would hope he cans the Team Slayer playlist now that is 4v4. No sense in really have three Slayer only playlists that are your customary 4v4 or 5v5 setup. Or if not, add in CTF and Bomb to Arena. If it's based off W/L, it is no harm, is it?

As for ranks, it wouldn't be an issue if they really brought attention how your Arena division is placed. Why isn't it in your Service Record on the front page? They should have it right out in front instead of deeply hidden in our Career stats. If they allowed it to appear in the open, people wouldn't clamor so much over a number. I think the alt accounts that ruined much of Halo 3's ranked playlists gave Bungie a sour taste.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Credits for game participation would be enough to stop afkers. You never see people afking in CoD simply because it isnt a viable way to rank up in that game. I still dont understand why they chose to reward game completion over participation, which would have been a lot more satisfying.

Yeah.

My thought process is, reward participation, punish quitting, by leveraging the currency system (cR).

But given that the current system rewards completion over participation, there needed to be a robust system to detect and boot idlers so they do not take advantage of it.

I spent the last seven or eight minutes of a game of Firefight Limited last night waiting for the time to run out as the Last Man Standing was sitting in the vent on Courtyard, happily dancing around while everyone else waited him out. That is the result of a system that rewards stitting there over playing. I do hope the next Halo game takes this into account.

 

[PNut]

Guys. This will stun your senses.

Also shows where i have been for the last 4 weeks. Feels good to be back.

Wow, that was amazing. I love watching speed runs and had never heard of that website. Thanks for posting.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Arena is currently a decent embodied playlist, though. With how Jeremiah is headstrong on bringing in another Slayer playlist, I would hope he cans the Team Slayer playlist now that is 4v4. No sense in really have three Slayer only playlists that are your customary 4v4 or 5v5 setup. Or if not, add in CTF and Bomb to Arena. If it's based off W/L, it is no harm, is it?

As for ranks, it wouldn't be an issue if they really brought attention how your Arena division is placed. Why isn't it in your Service Record on the front page? They should have it right out in front instead of deeply hidden in our Career stats. If they allowed it to appear in the open, people wouldn't clamor so much over a number. I think the alt accounts that ruined much of Halo 3's ranked playlists gave Bungie a sour taste.

I think that most of the changes that Jeremiah has made to the playlists since Reach launched have been for the better, but I have no idea what the point of this 5v5 slayer playlist is.

 

[MrBig]

I think that most of the changes that Jeremiah has made to the playlists since Reach launched have been for the better, but I have no idea what the point of this 5v5 slayer playlist is.

It's going to be slayer only? Why?

 

[Willeth]

The armor lock video got me thinking: We should get a party some time and hit up matchmaking with the same armor ability like hologram, drop shield, or camo, and all use it together at once and see how the game plays out
or armor lock...

A whole team running Hologram is even more frustrating than a whole team running AL. It's especially confusing in Objective.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

http://www.bungie.net/Stats/Reach/GameStats.aspx?gameid=557764804&player=XxDeputyMoonman
This to me is the embodiment of Reach and shows just how annoyingly overpowered the power weapons are in Reach. I never do this because it's so stupid. But I wanted to get 3 sprees quickly. I feel neither proud nor happy about going 25 and 1 in Reach when there is no way to stop power weapons. I'm usually more proud when I go negative, and stick to using the pistol through a whole game while everyone else rushes the bounty of power weapons all over each map.

 

[Trasher]

A whole team running Hologram is even more frustrating than a whole team running AL. It's especially confusing in Objective.

I don't agree. After a while in a game where the enemy team is using hologram, you get sort of desensitized to it. You also get used to the magnetism not being there when you aim over the holograms, and you can also tell it's not a hologram if the player's name isn't hovering over their head.

 

[Tashi]

I really believe it isn't due to the change in the rank system though. Maybe a little bit yeah, but I think it's just the different style of gameplay in Reach. I've been known to call it the Haggard Effect. Reach is simply harder on the player. When you lose, you lose hard. Even when you win a closer match like 50-35, the winning team still doesn't feel that satisfaction like they normally would in previous Halo titles. And, as rare as it is (for us anyways), when you actually get that competitive game with some good players, and you eek out that win 50-47, you still feel like your team played awful. I don't know how Reach does it, but it really takes out that satisfaction for me that I used to get whenever I played the other games.

It might be different for you in the MLG playlist, but this is how it generally goes for us in the other ones. We play around 10 to sometimes 15 matches a night, and I'd say we generally get one match a night (if lucky) that is actually competitive. The other half of the matches are filled with quitters, and then I'd say the remaining are filled with guests and people who probably would have made things easier on themselves if they would have quit.

Ahhh I see. And you're right, it is a little different in the MLG playlist. I honestly haven't played a normal team slayer game in months but I can't imagine what that playlist is like. You know how I was bitching about the extra maps in the MLG playlist that aren't on the Pro Circuit? Well yesterday online with a friend, an extra map got voted in. The teammates I matched with voted for it and laughed about it. I quit out immediately. I'm not gonna spend 15 minutes playing a match on that map. Fuck that. If I had a 50 in jeopardy, I'd stick around.

Another thing I noticed is that with randoms you can match against a party of 4. I welcome the competition if my teammates are up for it but a lot of guys have a strong dislike for that. A lot of guys will play for a minute and leave if things don't go perfect.

 

[The Librarian]

Tashi, have you put up your weekly montage yet? Or did miss it?

 

[Kuroyume]

Changing systems has very little to do with how much people leave games in Reach. Sure, there are probably a few like yourself that now don't give it a thought since it does you no harm but the whole reason why there is any penalty system in Reach was because quitting was rampant in Halo 3. In other words, this isn't a new problem. I feel it's just about the same as it was in Halo 3 both in terms of quitters and idlers. I don't know what 343 can do other than actually making a fun game that keeps people hooked.

I leave games in Reach. Sorry, but I'm not going to stick through a game of snipers that goes on forever on some giant ass map. I had fun with that mode in Halo 2 but it bored me to death in 3 and I can't tolerate it anymore in Reach. As long as I'm forced to play stuff like that, Headhunter, and other crap then I don't have a problem with leaving games. You could say well you're ruining the game for some other dude that wants to play Banshees on Breakpoint, and I say well am I playing the game for someone else's enjoyment or my own? I'm not going to sit through a 15 minute match on Breakpoint or Paradiso getting blasted over and over by something or having to play Rocket Hog on Spire when it's the opposite of fun to me. Btw, I usually don't leave Rocket Hog games... I just shoot the ground over and over flipping the Hog in the air.

 

[Trasher]

Changing systems has very little to do with how much people leave games in Reach. Sure, there are probably a few like yourself that now don't give it a thought since it does you no harm but the whole reason why there is any penalty system in Reach was because quitting was rampant in Halo 3. In other words, this isn't a new problem. I feel it's just about the same as it was in Halo 3 both in terms of quitters and idlers. I don't know what 343 can do other than actually making a fun game that keeps people hooked.

I leave games in Reach. Sorry, but I'm not going to stick through a game of snipers that goes on forever on some giant ass map. I had fun with that mode in Halo 2 but it bored me to death in 3 and I can't tolerate it anymore in Reach. As long as I'm forced to play stuff like that, Headhunter, and other crap then I don't have a problem with leaving games. You could say well you're ruining the game for some other dude that wants to play Banshees on Breakpoint, and I say well am I playing the game for someone else's enjoyment or my own? I'm not going to sit through a 15 minute match on Breakpoint or Paradiso getting blasted over and over by something or having to play Rocket Hog on Spire when it's the opposite of fun to me. Btw, I usually don't leave Rocket Hog games... I just shoot the ground over and over flipping the Hog in the air.

Exactly. The thing that CoD gets right is you know exactly what you will be playing (aside from the map, but there's still some choice there) with their playlist selection. Halo tries to include way too many different gametypes in their playlists. It turns it into a watered down mess. They try to cater to way too many people's tastes. What they should have done all along was create the bread and butter playlists, and leave the more unique gametypes for people to play in their own custom lobbies. Double EXP weekends could have also been implemented to perhaps get those different gametypes out there every once in a while as a sort of treat that was something different. That kind of stuff is generally the best in small doses anyways.

 

[xxjuicesxx]

Yes but you lost EXP in Halo 3, the only thing new in Reach was the ban that most people don't ever hit. I would say Reach is actually easier to quit in not only do you not LOSE credits (you just don't get the ones you were going to get automatically) but you can't lose any sort of visible rank (unless in the one playlist that has rank that barely anyone ever goes into) so it really never matters that you quit in Reach.

Reach promotes quitting in that sense. Ironic?

-

That whole 5v5 slayer playlist sounds so redundant with Slayer, Arena and Classic already out.

Seriously spend that time fixing BTB and Objective playlists.

What the hell is there any sort reason over there?

 

[Steelyuhas]

It's going to be slayer only? Why?

General matchmaking population hates objective games. Its the call of duty syndrome, people just want to shoot shit, don't want to work with teammates for have something to do other than shoot.

5v5 makes no sense to me though. So its going to be Team Slayer, but with one more player on a team? Seems pointless.

Now 6v6 on the other hand, makes sense (with objective of course).

A whole team running Hologram is even more frustrating than a whole team running AL. It's especially confusing in Objective.

I'm going to try and erase this post from my memory.

About quitting, at the very least you should lose credits when you quit in Reach.

 

[MrBig]

General matchmaking population hates objective games. Its the call of duty syndrome, people just want to shoot shit, don't want to work with teammates for have something to do other than shoot.

5v5 makes no sense to me though. So its going to be Team Slayer, but with one more player on a team? Seems pointless.

Now 6v6 on the other hand, makes sense (with objective of course).

Wouldn't the extra player just subtract from the slayer experience and just further divy up the kills? Seems pointless without objective.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Wouldn't the extra player just subtract from the slayer experience and just further divy up the kills? Seems pointless without objective.

Yeah I assume its still going to be 50 kills so yeah.

Pointless playlist.

 

[Detox]

General matchmaking population hates objective games. Its the call of duty syndrome, people just want to shoot shit, don't want to work with teammates for have something to do other than shoot.

Yeah the COD symptom... The game where most of the playlists are objective based.

COD does it almost perfectly with every gametype having it's own playlist. It also helps that COD doesn't have rubbish objective gametypes like headhunter or stockpile. The only gripe with COD is you're sometimes placed in losing teams near the end of the game. Nevertheless losing isn't as important in COD and you can usually be satisfied with your own performance.

 

[Tashi]

Tashi, have you put up your weekly montage yet? Or did miss it?

I just finished the credits and uploaded it to youtube. It's on private right now processing the HD. Give me like 10 minutes.

edit: I think there was an error in the upload. It's taking abnormally long to process. Gonna cancel and give it another shot.

 

[MrBig]

Yeah the COD symptom... The game where most of the playlists are objective based.

COD does it almost perfectly with every gametype having it's own playlist. It also helps that COD doesn't have rubbish objective gametypes like headhunter or stockpile. The only gripe with COD is you're sometimes placed in losing teams near the end of the game. Nevertheless losing isn't as important in COD and you can usually be satisfied with your own performance.

:lol the only objective game in CoD that isn't actually just about kill people is Hardcore S&D. Which was unsurprisingly the only thing I enjoyed about MW.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Dax, Yeti, we down for the LASO run in an hour and a half? I'm heading home now. Just got an email from my daughter, she's fired up to try it.